[News] Malaysia Unveils First Homegrown AI Chip MARS1000 on 7nm

According to Bloomberg, Malaysia unveiled its own AI processor on Monday, as local designer SkyeChip introduced the MARS1000 at an industry association event.

SkyeChip CEO Fong Swee Kiang said MARS1000 is the country’s first smart IoT chip, which is developed on a 7-nanometer process, according to Malaysian outlet The Star. Designed for edge workloads, the MARS1000 supports applications in autonomous robotics, intelligent video analytics, smart cities, industrial automation, and generative AI, the report adds.

In addition, The Star highlights that the event also featured the launch of EdgeMind, a locally developed Edge AI system by Elliance Sdn Bhd. As noted in the report, a memorandum of understanding was signed in November 2024 by Elliance, SkyeChip, Kaltech, and Estek Automation, marking their strategic collaboration to design and build Malaysia’s first edge AI system.

Malaysia’s Expanding Role in Chip Packaging and Data Centers

Malaysia is already a major player in global semiconductor packaging and serves as a manufacturing base for equipment makers like Lam Research. According to Bloomberg, the country handles roughly 10% of global chip packaging, with electronics accounting for nearly 40% of its exports.

It is also emerging as a hub for AI data centers, attracting major investments from companies like Oracle and Microsoft, as Bloomberg points out. Economic Daily News highlights Johor as Malaysia’s largest data center investment zone, ranking ninth in the Asia-Pacific AI data center market, and drawing multinational players including Australian data center giant AirTrunk.

Malaysia’s AI Drive Faces U.S. Restrictions

Officials in Kuala Lumpur are pursuing a multiyear drive to strengthen Malaysia’s capabilities in chip design, wafer fabrication, and AI data centers. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government has pledged at least 25 billion ringgit ($6 billion) to move the country up the global value chain, as Bloomberg notes. That effort is being complicated by a Trump administration proposal to restrict AI chip shipments to Malaysia and Thailand, amid concerns that smugglers are using the two countries as transshipment points to channel semiconductors into restricted markets such as China, according to Bloomberg.

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